The French composer Henri Dutilleux (born 1916) was largely influenced by the
French writer Marcel Proust's (1871-1922) novel A la recherche du temps perdu.
This monumental work is regarded by many critics as one of the most important
novels of all times. The narrator, a parallel figure of Proust himself, experiences
an involuntary memory of his childhood. An involuntary memory which is aroused
in the narrator runs like a thread through the novel.
This study traces how Dutilleux's style of writing was influenced by the concept of
memory. Proust's concept of involuntary memory is realised in the sonata
through "musical beacons". Dutilleux's composition techniques which relate to
the concept of memory involve the following markers:
• mirror images such as fan-like or melismatic figures
• prominence of the tritone
• focal notes or chords
• principle of circularity
• obsessional chords.
A related aspect of Proust's concept of memory is the instability and
inconsistency of the human personality as it is portrayed in his novel. In this
study it is indicated how Dutilleux's croissance progressive composition
technique may be likened to the inconsistency of personalities. It involves the
concept of thematic evolutions which usually permutate from a core cell. This
technique is characteristic of his adult work, and he applied it consciously for the
first time in his First Symphony (1951). However, he acknowledges that he had
used the technique unconsciously before. Dutilleux's Sonata for Oboe and Piano
(1947) is an early work which was written during his student years for competition
purposes. He does not regard the sonata as representative of his adult writing
style. Thematic permutations of a core cell in the first movement are indicated in
all three movements of the work. The analysis of musical thematic structure
shows that aspects of Dutilleux's adult writing style were already present in his
early work.